ISLAMABAD – Iran and Russia have ditched the dollar and are now carryingout all their transactions in national currencies, Iran’s Central BankGovernor Abdolnaser Hemmati says.
“Now all of our financial transactions with Russia are through the nationalcurrency of the two countries.
About 30% to 50% of the trade with Turkey is also done with the nationalcurrency and the rest with the euro,” he told reporters in Tehran after acabinet meeting.
“This trend is gradually removing the dollar from the trading cycle, withmany countries now willing to trade in their national currency so that theUS does not oversee their trade,” Hemmati added.
On Friday, the United States imposed another round of sanctions on Iran’scentral bank, but analysts cast doubt on their effectiveness becauseIranian banks are already cut off from the American financial system.
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The US Treasury Department said the sanctions target the Central Bank ofIran, the National Development Fund of Iran and Etemad Tejarate Pars Co.
US President Donald Trump said the sanctions were the highest ever imposedon a country, while Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin boasted Washington hadcut off “all source of funds to Iran”.
The sanctions, championed by former national security adviser John Boltonwho was ousted this month, are part of the US “maximum pressure” campaignto force Tehran over its nuclear program and influential regional role,Press TV has reported.
